5 gallon batch traditional mead

[jesse2205]

I started a 5 gallon batch of wildflower traditional mead 3 days ago. The recipe is like this:

17.5 lbs wildflower honey
3.5 gallons Mtn Spring water
5g packet kv-1116 yeast
2.5 tsp yeast nutrient

hydrometer reading was 1.20 starting off. there was little or no airlock activity for the first day and a half, which worried me alittle bit, but now there is a blip every 5 secs on its 3rd day. I was wondering how do i "step feed" my must? I read about ppl adding nutrients along the way on thier sugar breaks and lags, i don't know what all that means lol. I was also wondering how long this will take when it is ready to be bottled? And also if there is anything i can do other than what i have done already to make this mead to its potential. thanks

 

[Oskaar]

Umm, is that 1.120 or 1.20?

With 17.5 lbs of honey (about a gallon and one half) and 3.5 gallons of water you have a total volume of close to five gallons.

Which puts you close to about 1.13 or slightly less as a beginning gravity. K1V will go to 18 percent so you're looking at a dry mead.

If you want to know about nutrient feeding and such, do a forum search using the forum search tool and put in "nutrient dosing" or "sugar break" there are several folks, including myself who have posted information on this subject in a number of places.

Cheers,

Oskaar